** This article is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my Aunt, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission.
My Aunt and I have shared many laughs over the years. I used to go and stay with her in the summer months when school was on break. One summer, my Aunt was working at a job that she absolutely hated.
The company she worked for had many "rules," and she was growing weary of keeping up with all of the various rules. One particularly difficult summer day, while I was visiting, she came home for lunch just furious with her boss.
As we sat down to eat, she continued to lament the story of her day. Then, suddenly, she said she had an idea, and she went to grab her phone book. I was curious about what she was up to but sat quietly at the table eating my sandwich while she looked up a number.
As she dialed the phone, I listened to the conversation on her end. She was calling a company that sent out singing telegrams. She had decided not to go back to work after lunch that afternoon and sent her resignation via singing telegram.
As my Aunt returned to our lunch table that day, she smiled and said she felt better already. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at a lake within walking distance of her house.
One of her friends called her after work that day, laughing hysterically. She said that she wished she had had a heads up so that she could have captured her boss's expression on camera. The entire office staff tried to keep a straight face as the singing telegram was delivered.
It was a short song that basically said that my Aunt wouldn't be back from lunch because she had quit, and this song was her notice". To say the boss was shocked is an understatement. He was mortified that someone would just up and leave in the middle of their shift.
As I've gone through life and had a few jobs of mine that just weren't what I had hoped for them to be, I've never (yet) sent a singing telegram to any of my former bosses to resign from my position with their company.
While I can't say that leaving your job mid-shift is the right thing to do, I understand that my Aunt was very frustrated and still laugh to this day about her unique exit.
Have you ever left a job mid-shift? What was your exit strategy? Please share with us in the comments section.
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